No need to dislike LeBron James

By Clinton Yates

Published 3:52 pm, Thursday, June 11, 2015

I didn’t realize how much I liked LeBron James until my colleague Dan Steinberg shared his honest feelings. At the risk of being too meta, I’ll just say that my esteemed colleague represents a feeling, supported by many, that I will never understand. There was a time in which I strongly disliked James. The infamous travel against the Washington Wizards comes to mind, as does the memory of him destroying Gilbert Arenas psychologically at the free-throw line (a blow from which he never recovered). But as a sports fan, LeBron James is all we’ve ever asked for.

Give it a shot. Name an American athlete in the Internet era who’s accomplished as much as James, with as little controversy and as much popularity. Derek Jeter. Maybe.

Many people point to The Decision as the time when they really felt the empowerment to outwardly hate him. Maniacs were burning jerseys in the streets and people called him everything from classless to clueless. I remember exactly where I was when it happened. Sitting in Pho 88 in Falls Church, Va., I said to my friend Thomas that I thought Miami would be a nice place to live.

Was that moment really that unlikable in retrospect? We’re talking about someone who was very famously on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a high school junior. I’d love to know what you were doing at that age. The Decision was self-indulgent, sure, but what about sports isn’t? That’s the fun part.

More importantly about LeBron, though, is the fact that on so many levels, he hasn’t just lived up to the hype, he has surpassed it. His career numbers are plain to see. There’s the specific (take this year’s NBA Finals as an example), and the general (take this year’s NBA Finals as an example). I’ve said for years that if LeBron James played for the Browns, he’d be the best player on the team by a mile. He does awesome commercials, knows how to express himself thoughtfully and has adorable kids who apparently are incredible at basketball. You want to be mad at him because he wore a Yankees hat to an Indians game once, be my guest. But there’s really nothing not to like about him, at this point.

As much as I’m a fan of Riley Curry, at this point, I’m rooting for LeBron. That might be an easy thing for some people who just want to see the story for Cleveland and the man himself. But I’ll take it a step further. You all can beg and plead for Kevin Durant to come to the Wizards all you want. I’d rather have LeBron.